UN rights chief condemns sentencing of journalists in Egypt

‘It is not a crime to carry a camera,’ UN rights
chief warns as Egypt sentences journalists

23
June 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and High
Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed deep
concern over a string of recent court decisions in Egypt,
including the verdicts and heavy jail sentences handed down
today to three Al Jazeera journalists, as well as 11
other defendants who were tried in absentia.

“The
Secretary-General is deeply concerned by recent court
decisions in Egypt, particularly the confirmation of death
sentences for 183 people and the sentencing of journalists,
including from Al Jazeera today, to lengthy jail
terms,” said a statement issued by his spokesperson in
New York.

“Proceedings that clearly appear not to meet
basic fair trial standards, particularly those resulting in
the imposition of the death penalty, are likely to undermine
prospects for long-term stability,” it continued.

The
statement also noted that the constitutionality of the law
regulating protest will be reviewed by the Supreme
Constitutional Court. Mr. Ban recalled that both he and Ms.
Pillay had expressed concerns that the law could lead to
serious breaches of the right to freedom of peaceful
assembly and needed to be brought in conformity with
Egypt’s international human rights obligations.

“The
Secretary-General stresses that participation in peaceful
protests or criticism of the Government should not be
grounds for detention or prosecution. He believes Egypt will
only be strengthened by empowering all its citizens to fully
exercise their rights,” said the statement.

In her
statement, Ms. Pillay said she was “shocked and alarmed”
by the verdicts and jail terms of between 7 and 10 years
handed down to three journalists and the 11 other defendants
tried in absentia.

While noting that they are subject to
appeal, Ms. Pillay said the Al Jazeera verdicts,
along with Saturday’s confirmation by an Egyptian court of
the death penalty for 183 Muslim Brotherhood members and
supporters convicted in an earlier mass trial, are the
latest in a string of prosecutions and court proceedings
that have been “rife with procedural irregularities and in
breach of international human rights law.”

The High
Commissioner expressed her alarm at the increasingly
severe clampdown and physical attacks on both media and
civil society activists in Egypt, which is hampering their
ability to operate freely.

“I am particularly concerned
about the role of the judicial system in this clampdown,”
she said. “Harassment, detention and prosecution of
national and international journalists, including bloggers,
as well as violent attacks by unidentified assailants, have
become commonplace,” she added, noting that at least six
journalists have been killed in Egypt since August
2013.

“Media employees trying to carry out their work in
Egypt are now confronted by an extremely difficult and
dangerous environment. They should be protected not
prosecuted,” declared Ms. Pillay.

The High Commissioner
went on to say that the charges levelled against the
journalists, which include harming national unity and social
peace, spreading false reports, and membership of a
“terrorist organization,” are far too broad and vague,
and therefore reinforce the belief that the real target is
freedom of expression.

She noted that charges based on
Egypt’s anti-terrorism law have also been used to bring
convictions in a number of other trials, including the two
mass trials of more than 1,100 people in Minya earlier in
the year that led to at least 220 people being handed death
sentences, including the 183 whose death sentences were
confirmed on Saturday.

“I believe these mass trials and
death penalty convictions are obscene, and a complete
travesty of justice,” the High Commissioner
said.

Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, a binding treaty that Egypt ratified
in 1982, states that ‘Everyone shall have the right to
hold opinions without interference. Everyone shall have the
right to freedom of expression; this right shall include
freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of
all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in
writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any
other media of his choice.’

“It is not a crime to
carry a camera, or to try to report various points of views
about events,” Ms. Pillay said. “It is not a crime to
criticize the authorities, or to interview people who hold
unpopular views. Journalists and civil society members
should not be arrested, prosecuted, beaten up or sacked for
reporting on sensitive issues. They should not be shot for
trying to report or film things we, the public, have a right
to know are happening.”

She urged the Egyptian
authorities to promptly release all journalists and other
media employees imprisoned for carrying out legitimate news
reporting activities, including Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste
and Bahar Mohamed, the three journalists who were convicted
and sentenced on Monday.

Ms. Pillay, a former
international judge, also called on Egypt’s judicial
establishment to conduct a review of the handling of these
and other cases. “Egypt’s reputation, and especially the
reputation of its judiciary as an independent institution,
are at stake,” she said. “There is a risk that
miscarriage of justice is becoming the norm in
Egypt.”

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